Federal workers bear brunt of budget breakdown

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The budget battle may be between the
White House and the Congress, but it is federal workers who
will feel the pain.

"I think it's horrible that the two can't get it together
enough. They are getting paid, but they don't give a damn
about us," said Mark Causey, who is employed by the Food and
Drug Administration.
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More than 800,000 so-called "non-essential" federal workers
will be temporarily laid off if the government shuts down.
Many received the word on their computers by e-mail telling
them to come to work Tuesday morning no matter what they hear
on the news. If they are not needed when they arrive, they
will be told to go home.

"I'm surprised to some extent that they use or hold employees
of the government hostage to an agenda that really has
nothing immediately and directly to do with those employees,"
said Stanley Cohen who works for the Department of Education.

The uncertainty is hitting hard at some places like the
Smithsonian Institution's Sackler Gallery.

"We panicked for a while that the catalogs would not arrive
for the opening. Now that we have the catalogs, we're
panicking that the opening may not take place," said Jenny
So, who has been working on the exhibit for the Smithsonian.

More than a million federal workers, declared essential, will
stay on the job. But some may not be paid until things return
to normal.

"This is a terrible impact. You are telling some people to
come to work on a promise to pay, and you are telling other
people that you're going to be furloughed," said John
Sturdivant of the American Federation of Government
Employees.

Most people think of Washington when they think of federal
workers, but in fact only about 150,000 of those facing
layoffs work in the nation's capital.

The closure is unlikely to save taxpayers any money, in fact
it could raise costs. In the past, the Congress has voted to
pay the full salary of federal workers so no one lost money.
That could mean a paid vacation for those told to stay home,
but also more overtime to make up for lost work.